Thats right kids. All good things must come to an end. Just like college, twinkies, and single life. The smartphone has certainly lived its life and been woefully popular. But now we are beginning to see the limitations of a smartphone, and some of the social problems.
Cracked phone display (Photo credit: hugovk)
Socially, you notice how people and families are making less eye contact, and talking less. How about texting and driving. It wasn’t an issue about a decade ago. And now it is. Texting will become obsolete as voice dictation takes its place. Why use a keyboard when you can just talk, and leave your hands free? Or just make a phone call.
Samsung just released their next phone, the Galaxy S4. But only a few wow features. Weve now hit Max resolution at 1080p. Over 440 PPI. Quad core processor. Ability to track your eyes for video. Pretty impressive, right? Well, theres not much left in the tank to top that. So what are the companies to do?
From a device standpoint, we are reaching a maximum of what devices can do. Honestly is there really anything you wish your device could do that it cant? Other than driving your car and going to work for you? (Note:one day cars will drive themselves, see driverless cars from Google, and the fact the California is the first state to allow driverless cars.) Smartphone manufacturers are running out of ideas and planning their next platform.
Sony SmartWatch Review (Photo credit: clintonjeff)
Introducing…The smartwatch. Have you been following the news lately? Google, Apple, and Samsung have been clamoring for smartwatch patents. There are also some low end devices out there now that can be synced to your phone. This allows us to move away from visual devices for communications and perhaps, use a tablet only for video and image viewing.
And then theres Google Glass. These are smart glasses. Able to do most of what your smartphone can do by voice command alone. The images and notifications appear in front of your lens. Google recently made big news for having the first beta sales at $1500/pop. But I’m sure by 2016, they will cost under $500. Glasses allow us to focus more on the world around us, like an augmented reality, instead of looking down at our hands. They also allow us to use our voice to take pictures, video, get directions, and make phone calls. If this video doesnt make you want one now, you have no pulse.
Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin Sports the New Google Glasses at Dinner in the Dark, a Benefit for the Foundation Fighting Blindness — San Francisco, CA (Photo credit: Thomas Hawk)
So not only are we hitting an inflection point in smartphones; the companies are sending their best and brightest developers into new projects, and spending time away from smartphones. Both of these will cause smartphones to stagnate over the next few years. And before long you too will have a smartwatch or Google glass. You may even reflect back on these days and read this post. Or have Google read it for you.
-Merican Dreamer
